Hands-On Activity



Hands-on Activity for Elementary Social Studies (Example)

Student Name: Julia Deitch Trayer

Activity Topic: Topographic Maps


Grade Level: 4-5

Materials: Play-doh, floss, paper, pencil, scissors, sand paper, blue glitter paper, green foam, brown construction paper, glue and tape.

Learning objective: Using play-doh, floss, paper and pencil, students will mold the play-doh in to the shape of a mountain. Using the floss, the students will cut about three layers of the mountain and trace each section on the paper creating a topographic map. After a lesson and viewing pictures of topographic maps, students using paper materials will create their own landform topographic map.

Activity Description:
  • The teacher will first hand out play-doh to each student and have them create a mountain.Then, using the floss the students will cut the mountain into different layers and trace each layer on the paper, creating a topographic map.
  • The teacher will then discuss that they created a topographic map and will show students what topographic maps look like. The teacher will give a lesson on how to read them.
  • Next, the teacher will show the pictures of landform topographic maps and discuss as a whole that the different colors display different landforms.
  • Then the students, using different colored and textured paper materials will create their own landform topographic map.

Assessment:
Students will work independently on their play-doh mountains and trace each layer. Students will then, go on to create their own landform topographic maps displaying at least three different landforms.